Autumn Henningsen lives and breathes music. Just like her father, and his father before him, she has dreams to be a star.
But those dreams won't happen if she stays in Gullwitch Cove, LA, a small town with a population of about 1000. Nothing ever h...
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Autumn
The sun rises over the wheat field as I rest my head against the rough, sappy bark of the small tree at the very edge of the field. I ran out here at dawn, my mind too ablaze to even try to sleep.
I could have everything I ever wanted. So why does it feel like I'm perched precariously at the edge of a cliff, about to leap off with one more step?
I strum another chord on my guitar, writing down scribbles in the songbook on my lap. The orange sun beams hit my face and I inhale, breathing in the fresh morning air.
The words from the pamphlet swim across my eyes. Specifically the words 'record deal'.
It was true that I've been told how good I am just about every time I play something in class. It was true that I've always thought of myself as talented, and am willing to take whatever gig is thrown at me. What's not true is that I'm better than my dad.
My dad, Daniel Lee Henningsen, learned how to play the guitar and the banjo from his dad, who had learned while overseas. He then became so good at it that he was quickly snatched up by a record company at the age of seventeen.
I'm the same age that he was when he got his record deal. Yet, there's nothing.
I strum another chord on my guitar, write down a couple more lyrics, then crumple the paper into a ball and throw it across the field, watching as it disappears into the wheat.
I deserve a chance to get my dreams, yet something is holding me back.
Mom always used to sing me a song before I went to sleep at night. Her voice wasn't as smooth as Dad's or as whispery as mine, but she could still carry a tune. I don't remember how the song went but the last line was "Carry your dreams and they'll take you far."
I do carry my dreams as a backpack. They weigh me down yet make me lighter at the same time. Just when I feel like there's no hope in reaching them, the chance of a lifetime comes along.
I should take it. I'm three seconds away from opening my phone and calling Harley when I remember what Dad said to me the night he left us.
"You are nothing, you hear me," He bends down to look into my eyes, "You will always be nothing. No matter how hard you try, or how hard you practice, you will get nowhere."
I didn't fight him. I just stood and watched him walk away, disheveled and a mess. I didn't know that was the last time I'd see him. Of course, I didn't know a lot of things. But I do now.
Screw him. I'll be better than Daniel Lee Henningsen ever was. A brief moment of darkness takes hold of me, and I finish dialing Harley's number on my phone.
"I'm in." I say when he picks up. He says nothing but I swear I can hear him smiling on the other end of the phone.
